Happily Ever After
by Melinda1
Summary: Max looks back on her life. A not-so-dark perspective.


Title: Happily Ever After   
Author: Melinda   
E-mail address: keylime84@yahoo.com   
Feedback: Please!!   
Disclaimer: All characters and settings from "Dark Angel" belong to James Cameron & Charles Eglee. I'm just a loyal fan. I do not mean any infringement on any copyrights.   
Rating/Warnings: G   
Spoiler: Nothing very specific. Slight reference to "Blah, Blah, Woof, Woof" and "Heat".   
Archive permission: Sure. Just let me know if you do.   
Author's note: This is my first attempt at Dark Angel fan fiction. I just wrote it on the spur of a moment. I've read a lot of fics that show Max's fate from a dark perspective. They're great, but I decided it was time to see how her life could turn out well. Let me know what you think.   


Wow. It's been a long time since I've been up here. The city is spread before me, still a sad picture of what the United States have become since the pulse. Things have looked-up somewhat, though. Little by little, the country (and this city) has started to get back on its feet. 

Kinda like me. 

I mean, I was a real mess when I first came to Seattle. I didn't trust anyone. I didn't have any family or any friends. I was alone. 

But things got better. They could have gotten worst, but instead they got better. I made friends. I met Logan. 

Logan. 

When I asked Logan to help me find my family, I got something completely different from what I expected. One by one, he did help me find my siblings. Some had been recaptured. Some were dead. The rest I met and befriended the best I could. But we had all changed. We had grown apart. I still keep in touch with a couple, but I found out that wasn't really my family. 

I remember after he had found all my siblings in one way or another, Logan looked at me with those eyes of his and said, "What now?" I just shrugged. I had no clue. I had found my sisters and brothers. Logan had taken care of his end of the bargain. I had helped him try to save the world, which was my part of the deal. I left, not knowing what else to do. It looked like we didn't need each other any more. 

After a few days of using every ounce of my strength to not drop by his apartment or call, I got a typed note at work saying to go to the top of the space needle that night at mid-night. I went of course, assuming it was Zack who had come back to see me. Looking back on it, I should have realized... 

Anyway, when I reached the top I saw Logan. He had made a picnic for us up there. For some reason, I felt the need to cover up my excitement. "Itís kinda late for dinner," I said, "and I thought you were scared of heights." He sat calmly on the blanket, his wheelchair folded next to him. "Oh, I'm terrified," he said honestly, "but I thought we could have a mid-night snack together. Since you don't sleep, and I haven't been able to sleep since you left that night, I thought it would work out perfectly." I sat down beside him, and yes, you guessed it. He proposed to me that night. 

And I said yes. 

The fact that I agreed amazed me more than the proposal. Sometime while we were working together to find my siblings and save the world, I must have gotten over my fear of getting too close to anyone. Without even realizing I was, I had slowly opened myself up to him and, as they used to say a long time ago, the rest is history. 

I married Logan. We had kids. Lots of kids. Neither of us really planned on having very many, but every time I went into 'heat', well... 

Now we're proud to be grandparents. My first daughter just had her first baby last night. I think that's kinda why I'm up here, looking down on the city. Every time a child was born I worried. I would go up here and worry like every mother does, but worse. I hoped, I even prayed, that my children would not be inflicted with the same problems I have. Seizures. Going into 'heat'. Stuff like that. Logan told me not to worry, but I know he did, just like me. Now I'm worrying again, about my grandchild. 

My worrying was not uncalled for. My firstborn, a boy, was born stillborn. The doctors said he had some kind of seizure. They didn't understand it; we did. We talked about not having anymore children. "Less to worry about," I said. "Less to love," Logan said. 

He was right. 

The other children have gotten along okay. A few have to take Tryptophan, but they are all healthy. More than healthy. They've got some of my strengths and abilities. 

Logan and I thought long and hard about what to tell them. "Kids, you're mom's an escapee from a government facility where she was genetically 'revved-up', but they messed up so she has to take pills and she passed all her problems on to you." No, not like that, but we did tell them gently. 

As for Lydecker, he either died or gave up looking for me. I don't really care which. I haven't heard from him in decades. He wouldn't recognize me anyway. I've aged pretty normally, and I've had my bar-code removed by some specialty doctors that Logan had connections with. 

So...that's how my life has turned out. Logan, kids, and grandkids. Sounds surprisingly normal. I finally have a family. That's what I meant when I said earlier that when I asked Logan to find my family, I didn't get what I expected. He found my family alright. He became my family. 

When I came to Seattle and sat here for the first time, the city was dark and lonely. Just like me. Now, with dawn showing its face on the horizon, the city has brightened. It has become full of life and hope. Just like me. I guess I'm no longer a 'dark' angel. I now have light. In my life. In my smile. In me. 

Whoa. How sappy do I sound? Back to reality, Max. Get off this space needle and back down to earth. I can't help but be deep up here. This place is full of memories. 

Is that Logan calling from the car below? He hasn't been up here since he proposed. Still terrified of heights. I swear, I *will* change that someday. 

I sigh. Down I go. Logan greets me with a soft kiss. I smile. I know it's an old and over-used saying, but right now, I can truly say... 

I lived happily ever after. 


End file.
